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Toyota EV sets Nürburgring record for electrics

The Toyota TMG EV P001 lapped the Nürburgring in less than eight minutes.

A lap of the Nürburgring in 7 minutes, 47.794 seconds is pretty impressive--and even more so when you find out that it was done with a 100 percent electric powertrain.

Toyota driver Jochen Krumbach was at the wheel. He pushed the TMG EV P001 to beat the previous lap record for an electric car--9 minutes, 1.338 seconds--set by the Peugeot EX1.

The original plan for the Toyota Motorsport GmbH car was to break the eight-minute barrier, which was done easily. The time was logged on a relatively good-weather day for the 'Ring, although the team said track temperatures were low.

The aim of the project is twofold, according to TMG's technical director Pascal Vasselon.

"Obviously we wanted to set a new EV lap record, and I'm very pleased we could achieve that so comprehensively," said Vasselon. "On the other hand, we also wanted to learn more about the operation of our electric powertrain in extreme circumstances. In motorsport, there is no more extreme circuit than the Nürburgring."

The record was broken on street-legal tires over the complete 13-mile, 154-turn track and was verified by independent lap timing.

The company says its electric powertrain is ideal for a full EV racing series. The top speed is 161 mph, which is combined with 590 lb-ft of torque available at zero rpm, one of the benefits of an electric motor. TMG says it will begin commercial sales of the technology in 2012.